ChE Ph.D. Student Dipti Bhave Wins Kokes Award from the North American Catalysis Society
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Ph.D. Candidate Dipti Bhave of the UMass Amherst Chemical Engineering (ChE) Department has received a Richard J. Kokes Travel Award from the North American Catalysis Society (NACS). The Kokes award program encourages student participation in the biennial meetings of the NACS. In this case, it funded her attendance at the 29th NACS Meeting (NAM29) in Atlanta, Georgia, in June. Beyond attendance at the meeting, the award enabled her to present her research on “True Activation Energies Relevant to Methanolto Olefins Chemistry” on June 11 at NAM29.
According to the NAM29 website, it was the premier scientific event in the field of catalysis research and development in 2025 and featured technological challenges, breakthrough discoveries, and state-of-the-art academic and industrial research.
Bhave does her research in the laboratory of ChE Professor Friederike Jentoft and studies methanol-to-olefins conversion on zeolites and zeotypes, spectroscopic analysis of hydrocarbon pool reactions, and anti-Markovnikov hydration of olefins.
As Bhave summarized her research presented at NAM29, “Methanol-to-olefins conversion offers a sustainable alternative to traditional olefin production but faces challenges with catalyst deactivation and selectivity control. My research focuses on measuring the intrinsic kinetics of individual surface transformations within zeolite pores in this complex reaction network using spectroscopic techniques.”
Bhave added that “This work enabled the identification of kinetically relevant pathways, with the goal of improving catalyst performance and enhancing overall reaction efficiency.”
Bhave earned her undergraduate degree from the Department of Oils, Oleochemicals, and Surfactants Technology at the Institute of Chemical Technology in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. In 2018, she served as a Research Intern at Croda in Mumbai, and, in 2019 and 2020, she also worked as a Perfumery Application Intern at Firmenich in Mumbai. More recently, in 2024, she functioned as a Ph.D. Business Development Intern at Johnson Matthey in Wayne, Pennsylvania.
Bhave was also selected to present her research at other major international conferences, including those of the International Congress on Catalysis, American Institute for Chemical Engineers (AIChE), and American Catalysis Society.
Bhave has been previously recognized with multiple awards for her research, teaching, and academic excellence, including the AIChE Women in Chemical Engineering Travel Award and the International Congress on Catalysis Travel Award. She also received the Tillwick and Eldridge Award for outstanding teaching and the Jean Brady and Nilesh Shah Fellowship Award for academic merit at UMass Amherst. Lastly, she received the third-place prize at the New England Catalysis Society Poster Competition and the Dr. K. T. Achaya Memorial Best Student Medal, recognizing her achievements in both the U.S. and India.
Bhave has demonstrated strong leadership and a commitment to service throughout her graduate career. As vice chair of the Graduate Student Dean’s Advisory Board, she contributed to policy improvements aimed at enhancing the graduate-learning experience. She has also volunteered for the ASPIRE program at UMass Amherst and the “Science is Fun Exhibition” for Mumbai’s Gunvanti J. Kapoor Medical Relief Charitable Foundation, where she inspired school students to pursue STEM fields through hands-on demonstrations. (July 2025)